How did BMW get it so WRONG? M3 v M5 DRAG RACE

What will happen in a drag race between a BMW M5 Touring and a BMW M3 CS Touring? Well, we're going to find out by racing over the standing quarter mile. I'm Matt Watson. You're watching Car Wow. These cars are very similar in terms of their body style. They're both estate cars. They're also very similar in terms of their price. They're both about £120,000. But that's where the similarity ends. You see, this has a 4.4 4 L twinturbo V8 mated to an electric motor because it's a plug-in hybrid. It's got all-wheel drive, an 8-speed automatic gearbox with launch control, and it has 727 horsepower and 1,000 Newton m of torque. But it's very heavy. It's almost 2 1/2 tons. Let's find out about that M3 CS. Hey Sam, how are you? I'm concerned. Why? That my bulky big car has so much gravitational pull that you might end up crashing into me. Yeah. And as director Jack said, this does look like a Stormtrooper, so the space theme works, I think. Exactly. So, what are the stats on your car? 3 L straight 6 twin turbo, 550 horsepower, 650 Newton meters, 8-speed gearbox, four-wheel drive launch control, and my car weighs just over 1,800 kilos. So, it's a good 600 kilos lighter than yours. How's that going to affect things? Well, let's find out. Let's race. 3 2 1. This shot off the line. Wow. Oh, he's just ahead. He's beaten. It's just ahead. It's beaten. Are you happy with that, Sam? This launches so hard, doesn't it? It's unbelievable. Thing is, I think this can launch even harder than it did. So, I think I've actually got a good chance of beating you in the next race. We'll do best three out of five though just to be sure which is the quickest. First though, let's do another race. Let's do a rolling race from 50 mph over a half mile. And we're going to go in full comfort relax mode and automatic mode of the gearbox. We're just tootling along and we decide to have a race. Full disclosure, I'm not entirely sure I can do a better launch than that. So, I don't like what you just said. Aha. Well, we'll come back to that in a bit. Let's do this rolling race first. 3 2 1 go. ahead for a short period, but the period is now over. It's very close. I'm starting to pulling back. He's creeping back. But is it going to be enough? Right. So, my car decided to change gear just as about to put my foot down, which didn't help. I did get ahead ever so slightly. Then you pulled it back and then I started to pull it back again. It was very odd that race. I think you might have just had me on the line, but it was so close. Are you sure that's got 700 horsepower? Yes, but it's having to deal with 2 and a half tons. Yeah, but and a thousand new meters of torque. I mean, that's an awful lot. It is an awful lot. And I think in the next challenge, you'll really see the benefit of the hybrid system. Okay, we'll take the gearbox out the equation. Go into our sportiest settings. Manual mode of the gearbox. Rolling from third gear. Let's see what happens this time. 3 2 1 go. Close again. Come on. I'm just ahead. What? Come on, you beautiful lump. I think my power and torque overcame my serious weight disadvantage. It's not beating me by enough though. It's just not. No, but it still beat you. Though, the next challenge could be rather problematic. Before we race, Sam, let's just see which car sounds the best. Normally a V8 should win right over a straight six, but let's find out if that is the case here. Let's have yours. This wins. How has a straight six beaten a V8? I don't know, but it just has. Hopefully, it's not going to beat it in the next challenge. It shouldn't do. I think I've got you for this race. We're going to roll in 10 miles an hour and see which car is the quickest over the half mile. Okay. Three, two, one. That was proper hybrid power there. Oh, it's going to be a close one. I'm pulling him. Now he's just easing past. If I can just hold him off now. I'm pulling him. Give me some battery POWER. I NEED MORE BATTERY BOOST. COME ON. DON'T UP. GEAR CHANGE. This drag race is going to be super close. This car seems to just be warming up. It's It's on it. Oh, Sam. It's getting interesting, my friend. I actually thought I had you at one point. You just crept ahead at the end, didn't you? Yeah. I think when you haven't got the gearbox having to change down, the hybridness does help. If you think that this car is 600 kilos more, yet it picks up quicker than yours and manages to beat you. Is impressive what it can do. I'm not an electric car fan, but that weighs about as much as an electric car. It's got the same kind of horsepower figures as an electric car and torque figures, but it certainly isn't as fast as one of those cars. So, that's where I think that's a bit disappointing for the old ice engine. Yeah, I hear you, Sam. Hybrid for me is the worst of all roads. And we're probably going to find out how bad it is now in a brake test. And we know how well these break. So, good luck, sir. Wait there. Wait there. Wait there. I've got I'll go and do something. I am going to put my regen into max brake sport. Yes. Now, if you'd rather watch another drag race with some BMWs, click on the pop out B up there or scan the QR code on screen now. If not, stay here for this brake test. I'll tell you what, Sam, I may have lost, but I'm quite pleased how well it did considering the amount of mass this thing is having to deal with. Yeah, it's absolutely brilliant. And all credit to BMW because they for a long time had such crap brakes and now they are market leading I would say. Yeah, except CS the brakes on that are immense and for a car like this at this weight that was impressive. But now our tires are nice and warm. Let's get back to the drag race best three out of five. It's 1 nil to you. Three. It's got me off the line. How does that win off the line? smashed. Oh my goodness. I'm not happy about that. Oh my goodness. That was a clear victory to you. That thing gets off the line like nothing else. Yeah, this is 9/11 turbo territory. This is It's not quite, but it's fast. I absolutely have to win here otherwise it's game over. 3 2 1. Can I stay ahead? Yes. Here we go. Oh, he's coming back. You were coming back then, I think. Also, what a dreadful launch you had. What happened? Well, as ever, I always feel you're slightly optimistic, but I could have been a little bit better off the line. Let's find out if I jumped. No, you didn't jump. That's 2-1 to you. I'm not out yet. I'm just ahead. Oh, he's got me. He's got me. All right, I concede. Victory to you. We have established that you're better off having less power and significantly less weight. Yeah. I think the problem you have is when your planet gets up to its speed, then it's going to be fast. But you have to get it up to that speed first. It is that once drag becomes an issue and the added weight is a benefit to like cannonball through the air. It's good. And that's what happened in the rolling races. But when it's all about just absolute power to weight, this is running a deficit. So, the M3 was the quicker car, but how did the car's times compare? The BMW M3 CS Touring completed the standing/4 mile in 11.1 seconds. The M5 Touring took 11.3 seconds. I hope you enjoyed the video. If you did, give it a like. If you want to watch some other videos, click on the video windows. If you want to see how these cars caught mile times compared to everything else we've ever drag raced, then click on the CarWow logo to check out the Carwow drag race leaderboard. Thanks for watching and I'll see you next